Sunday, March 31, 2013

1. Los Angeles Angels (97-65): With Josh Hamilton, Mike Trout and Albert Pujols makes the Angles one of the strongest offensive teams in the MLB right now. the weakside of their roster is the pitching, but C.J. Wilson and Jered Weaver are good 1 and 2 starters.

2. Texas Rangers (89-73): They need to somehow replace the run production that they lost when Josh Hamilton signed with in division team Los Angeles Angels, and they hope Lance Berkman can do some of that. Yu Darvish and the pitching staff will look to remain consistent going into 2013.

3. Oakland Athletics (84-78): The Athletics have a lot of guys who are either really young or have a history of injuries, but are solid enough to be a factor any given ballgame. The A's won't be under the radar as they were last year so I just don't see the repeated sucess.

4. Seattle Mariners (79-83): With a starting rotation lead by King Felix and a pretty solid bullpen, pitching shouldn't be the Mariners issue. The real issue with the Mariners is lack of runs, they have finish last in runs in the AL the past 4 seasons. They can only hope thatKendrys Morales can help put a stop to that. 5. Houston Astros (58-104): Not much to say about a team whose payroll is around $25 million. They did keep All Star 2nd baseman Jose Altuve to lead the rebuild, and have added Carlos Pena and Chris Carter to help as well.

1. Detroit Tigers (96-66): The Tigers, too me, seem like the only real talented team coming out of the AL Central. With a very talented roster already, the addition of Torii Hunter will hope to help the defensive problems this club had one year ago.

2. Chicago White Sox (82-80): Not much has changed with the 2013 club over the last year. So in my eyes I don't see much changing in their record either, a team around .500 with not a lot of upside, but not a lot of downside that you might see in the rest of the teams in this division.

3. Kansas City Royals (80-82): Well for the Royals offensively they seem to be set with guys like Alex Gordon and Eric Hosmer. The real question for this team is pitching, they added James Shields and his careers 3.89 ERA, however I don't think it's enough for the Royals to get about .500 in 2013.

4. Cleveland Indians (77-85): With Michael Bourn, Terry Francona, and Nick Swisher in the lineup, I can only imagine that this team will be able to score some runs. However they also have a classic case of a bad pitching staff, so I don't think the Indians will win many games but I do think they will be a fun team to watch.

5. Minnesota Twins (60-102): Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau are two aging stars on a team full of prospects. The Twins are in the middle of their rebuild mode, and many of their prospects will be good some day....Just not in 2013.

1. Toronto Blue Jays (95-67): The Blue Jays have really beefed up their pitching staff for the 2013 season with the additions of R.A. Dickey and Josh Johnson. If Brett Lawrie can remain healthy for most of the season I expect big things out of the Jays this season.

2. Tampa Bay Rays (90-72): As it seems like for the Rays every year this team plays better than it looks on paper. Their starting pitching remains strong with guys like Matt Moore in your rotation, I see a wild card spot for the Rays this year.

3. New York Yankees (87-75): The Yankees don't have the depth as they have had in years past, and with an aging but talented lineup, the disabled list may be this team worst enemy.

4. Baltimore Orioles (83-79): Lightning in a bottle was a major part of this teams post season appearance last year. Their starting rotation will be well enough to keep them above average but their offense may cause them from repeating last season success.

5. Boston Red Sox (81-81): The Red Sox did some rebuilding to compete this season. They certainly have the talent to be a above .500 ball club, but they will have to hope pitching performs better than last season.

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

1. San Francisco Giants (93-69): This team has won 2 World Series in the past 3 years, and not much has changed from the 2012 ball club. The Giants have a solid pitching rotation and I am going to call my shot and Tim Lincemcum comes back to his old form a bit.

2. Los Angeles Dodgers (91-71): The Dodgers have spent some big money in the offseason to not only make a run at the Pennant but to win the World Series. Will the additions of Zach Greinke and Carl Crawford push them over the edge? I don't think so, at leas not this year, I feel Greinke will feel a bit of the pressure down the stretch and Crawford is a question if he can play like he did for Tampa Bay.

3. Arizona Diamondbacks (88-74): The starting rotation remains just as solid as last year, and maybe even more so with Brandon McCarthy. It seems the only thing the bullpen knows how to do is to strand inherited runners. This young team looks to improve this year after trading Upton and will be a factor in years to come.

4. Colorado Rockies (67-95): Poor pitching plagued the Rockies in 2012, and they haven't really done much to make the starting rotation much better. If the Rockies want to improve they will need to hope that Troy Tulowitzki lives up to his big contract.

5. San Diego Padres (65-97): The 50 game suspension of Yasmani Grandai, the teams only real standout, will prevent this team from coming out the gate with any momentum. To much inexperience in pitching really hurts this team as well.

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

1. Cincinnati Reds (89-73): With the loss of leadership Scott Rolen brought to the table, The starting rotation of this team is really strong and the addition of Shin-Soo Choo is a huge plus as well.

2. Milwaukee Brewers (85-77): This might be my long shot but I think this team has a shot to improve a bit from last season. They have a dependable offensive core lead by Ryan Braun and with addition of Kyle Lohse will make the Crew's starting rotation stronger. Hopefully they cut the fat and made the right additions in the bullpen to make another playoff run.

3. St. Louis Cardinals (84-78): The Cardinal's starting rotation will look a little weaker this year with the loss of Kyle Lohse. Even so they are a very predictable team and is a sure bet to be right in the mix of it towards the end of the season.

4. Pittsburgh Pirates (82-80): All the young talent that the Pirates have been grooming is starting to emerge. Right now I think their starting rotation isn't solid enough for them to totally breakthrough just yet, AJ Burnett can be just as unpredictable, but I think this will be the first time in over 20 years that they will get over the .500 mark.

5. Chicago Cubs (70-92): The starting rotation of this team is to weak to make leaps and bounds in improving record wise in 2013, but the Cubs know all about waiting til next year.

1. Washington Nationals (95-67): Being one of the most talented teams in the National League, the addition of Rafael Soriano is one move that should help the bullpen that eventually was the teams downfall last season.

2. Atlanta Braves (84-78): The Braves starting rotation lacks what it did last season after the loss of Brandon Beachy, and the addition of Justin Upton seems to be a question, but the bullpen is still tough and they should still have a solid 2013.

3. Philadelphia Phillies (79-83) This team to me just feels like it hitting the end of a run. Even though they still have talent on the roster, I wonder if guys like Halladay, Hamels, and Lee can pitch as well as they did in 2011 or if their offense will get it back together after a poor season last year.

4. Miami Marlins (71-91) After the team did some major selling last season, this team fell way short of expectations....it was disastrous! This team lacks talent but at least they will have a bright spot in Giancario Stanton.

5. New York Mets (68-94) This team is just to unpredictable. Despite having Ike Davis and Johan Santana, this team is a few years away from shocking the world or making a wild card push.